The AP reports: Kelenna Azubuike scored 18 points, all in the second half, and Brandan Wright added 16 points and the Golden State Warriors defeated the Portland Trail Blazers 110-95 Wednesday night. Portland center Greg Oden, the first pick of the 2007 draft, scored 14 points and pulled down a team-high nine rebounds. LaMarcus Aldridge also scored 14 points for the Blazers while Jerryd Bayless had 13. Azubuike, who didn’t play during the first half, hit 7 of 10 shots during the second half as the Warriors (1-1) rallied from a four-point halftime deficit.
Oct 8: Wolves 88, Thunder 82
The AP reports: Rashad McCants scored 13 of his 15 points in the fourth quarter and Rodney Carney and Ryan Gomes hit consecutive 3s to help Minnesota spoil the Oklahoma City Thunder’s preseason debut with an 88-82 victory Wednesday night… Al Jefferson added 13 points and nine rebounds for the Wolves (2-0) and Corey Brewer finished with 11 points. Kevin Love and Carney each finished with 10. Damien Wilkins led the Thunder with 19 points, including a layup to tie the score at 78 with 3:04 to play. McCants fouled out on the play, but Wilkins missed the free throw. Wilcox added 17 points for the Thunder, Russell Westbrook had 13 and Kevin Durant finished with 10 points and seven rebounds.
Oct 8: Wizards 89, Grizzlies 80
The AP reports: JaVale McGee, Washington’s first-round draft choice out of Nevada-Reno, had 20 points and eight rebounds Wednesday night to lead the Wizards to a 89-80 preseason victory over the Memphis Grizzlies. McGee shot 8-for-12 from the field for Washington. Andray Blatche scored 14 points and DerMarr Johnson had 11… Rudy Gay scored 21 points on 5-for-19 shooting for Memphis, winless in two games. Hakim Warrick added 16 points, but was 3-for-9 as the Grizzlies shot 35 percent on the night. Greg Buckner finished with 11 for Memphis and rookie Marc Gasol had 10. Meanwhile, O.J. Mayo, the third-overall pick from Southern Cal, connected on 3-of-11 from the field for Memphis and finished with seven points.
Oct 8: Pistons 85, Bucks 71
The AP reports: Arron Afflalo said: “I’m going to find ways to take advantage of what I can do offensively.” He did just that Wednesday, leading the Pistons with 15 points on 6-of-7 shooting from the floor and connected on all three of his 3-point attempts… The Bucks were missing several key players, including first-round pick Joe Alexander (abdominal strain), Richard Jefferson (quad), Luke Ridnour (knee) and Charlie Bell (Achilles tendinitis). Andrew Bogut played after missing Milwaukee’s first preseason game because of a migraine, but finished with just seven points… Charlie Villanueva had 20 points for Milwaukee and Malik Allen added 18.
Oct 8: Magic 118, Bobcats 80
The AP reports: Orlando jumped to a 31-point first quarter lead Monday night en route to a 118-80 victory over the Bobcats… Dwight Howard scored 20 points to lead the Magic. Rashard Lewis had 17 points to lead three other Orlando players in double figures. Orlando’s lead grew to as much as 44 in the fourth quarter… Gerald Wallace led Charlotte with 18 points and 11 rebounds. Jason Richardson added 15 points… Sean May, who didn’t wear a knee brace or protective sleeve, played 18 minutes and finished with seven points and two rebounds.
Oct 8: Hornets 105, Pacers 71
The AP reports: Chris Paul scored 17 points, and the New Orleans Hornets beat the Pacers 105-71 in Indiana’s preseason opener on Wednesday night. Former Pacer Peja Stojakovic scored 14 points and Tyson Chandler had 11 rebounds for the Hornets, who topped Golden State 106-103 in their preseason opener on Sunday… T.J. Ford led the Pacers with 15 points in just under 20 minutes. Jack had 11 points and eight rebounds, but had eight turnovers. Indiana’s Mike Dunleavy, Troy Murphy and Travis Diener sat out with injuries.
Oct 8: Raptors 113, Knicks 111
The AP reports: Losing in Mike D’Antoni’s preseason debut isn’t keeping the New York Knicks from enjoying life with their new coach. Chris Bosh had 20 points and seven rebounds and the Toronto Raptors beat New York 113-111 on Wednesday night… Zach Randolph, who had 19 points and 13 rebounds, isn’t worried about his place despite D’Antoni’s up-tempo style… Andrea Bargnani added 15 points, Kris Humphries had 13 and Jermaine O’Neal added eight points and six rebounds for Toronto, which won for the second time in two nights… David Lee led the Knicks with 22 points and nine rebounds, Nate Robinson added 16 points and Wilson Chandler had 15. Stephon Marbury came off the bench to score 10 points in 23 minutes.
Oct 8: Sixers 98, Celtics 92
The AP reports: Lou Williams scored 27 points and Thaddeus Young added 21 to help the Philadelphia 76ers beat the NBA champion Boston Celtics 98-92 on Wednesday night in the exhibition opener for both teams. Williams was 7-of-12 from the field and 12-of-13 from the line. Leon Powe led the Celtics with 12 points and Tony Allen had 11. The Celtics’ Big Three—Ray Allen, Paul Pierce and Kevin Garnett—got off to a fast start, but played limited minutes.
Wolves to sign David Harrison
The Rocky Mountain News (Chris Tomasson) reports: The Minnesota Timberwolves are coming to Denver, and center David Harrison will be with them. A source said Wednesday that Harrison, a former University of Colorado star, will sign with the Timberwolves (it’s for one year and nonguaranteed). But Harrison, a free agent who played the past four seasons with Indiana, won’t play in Friday’s preseason game against the Nuggets at the Pepsi Center.
InsideHoops.com editor says: Harrison must prove himself worthy of being in the league. Right now he’s right on the bubble of sticking around for a while or falling out in a season or two. He’s 26, looked somewhat decent as a rookie (like a good future backup center), then in four seasons doesn’t seem to have improved at all. Time to show something.
B.Haywood to have wrist surgery
Washington Wizards President Ernie Grunfeld announced today that center Brendan Haywood will have surgery to repair a torn dorsal scapho-lunate ligament in his right wrist. He originally suffered the injury during last week’s training camp in Richmond, VA.
Haywood visited two hand specialists in New York earlier today who both concluded that surgery was necessary to repair the torn ligament. No timetable will be determined for Haywood’s return until after surgery, which has yet to be scheduled.
“Brendan worked extremely hard over the summer after having a career year last season,” said Grunfeld. “This is disappointing, but we’re confident that he will do everything necessary to recover from this injury and continue that progress.”
Haywood averaged career highs of 10.6 points, 7.2 rebounds and 1.7 blocks last season while shooting .528 (316-599) from the field.